From Daily Planet Staff Reports

Top leaders of the Asheville Tea PAC are charging that an upstart group billing itself as Tea Party WNC, which is solicing donations, is illegitimately seeking to position itself as a group representing the movement in the region.

The ATPAC officers alleged that TPWNC is seeking to bypass the Asheville-based group’s lack of support for GOP candidate Jeff Miller, who is seeking to unseat U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler, D-Waynesville, in order to give Miller a Tea Party endorsement.

ATPAC endorsed Dr. Dan Eichenbaum, who finished second in the GOP primary, and has steadfastly declined to endorse Miller after the latter won the nomination.

The letter seeking donations was signed by Bruce Gardner, chairman of TPWNC, asking that money be sent to a Waynesville mailing address, two ATPAC leaders told the Daily Planet in a July 29 interview.

“I passed it along to others” in ATPAC and “Erika Franzi was able to recognized Gardner as a member of Haywood 9-12,” Tim Peck, ATPAC treasurer, said.

Contacted Aug. 5, Gardner told the Planet, “Who are they (ATPAC) to question anything we do?”

Gardner then explained that his organization has endured much criticism from ATPAC — and received many letters of encouragement from supporters to stay the course.

TPWNC was organized in late June or early July as the political wing of the Haywood County 9-12 Project. He noted that the group needed to form a PAC (political action committee) so that that it could spend money to support candidates.

Gardner said his group has “several hundred members,” mostly from the 9-12 Project.

As for the criticism by ATPAC leaders that his organization was formed to endorse Miller, Gardner noted that “we can’t support Jeff Miller because we’re a state PAC.” He said his group only could legally support state candidates and noted that Miller is a federal candidate.

He said TPWNC will be supporting Ralph Hise for the 47th District Senate seat; Jim Davis for the 50th District Senate seat and Sam Edwards for the 199th House seat.

The aforementioned candidates represent all of Western North Carolina, except Buncombe, so his group chose a name to reflect that, Gardner noted. “We haven’t endorsed anyone yet. We’re going to distribute a voters’ guide” soon. “We will make endorsements” in the near future, too.

In returning to the issue of the group’s name, Gardner said, “If they’re so concerned about the name of our domain, why didn’t they charter it? I suggest they mind their own business. There’s a lot of confusion about this pre-emptive attack” by the ATPAC.

“Our agenda is solely to elect fiscally conservative candidates.” He questioned what the ATPAC’s agenda is.

“It seems they’re more interested in organizing than in supporting candidates and getting them elected.”

In addition, Gardner wondered why ATPAC was so intent on trying to organize local patriot groups. “For what purpose?” He also questioned why ATPAC “came after our data base ... We’re going to maintain our own data base” — and not share it with others.

Meanwhile, in the July 29 interview, Peck said he discovered that the TPWNC “decided a month ago to establish a domain name, Web site and PAC.

Peck added that TPWNC appears to be “purposefully, an umbrella group for the region.”

Franzi, ATPAC founder and board member, added, “They refused to work with us,” in a reference to the Haywood 9-12 Project. “When we tried to start a loose coalition” about three months ago of local partriot groups, one of the criteria was we’d all share e-mail lists.”

Peck noted that it was David D. DeGerolamo of NCFreedom — and not ATPAC — that asked for everyone’s mailing list. Only the Haywood 9-12 Project refused to cooperate.

As for TPWNC, “It’s as if this thing sprang out of nowhere,” Peck said.

Agreeing with Peck’s assessment, Franzi continued, “I have first-hand information they’ve been working with the Miller campaign.”

Peck asserted, “This is a way to subvert criticism around the Miller campaign to give him the Tea Party support” they covet so much.

In response to the TPWNC letter, Peck noted that Franzi e-mailed a “fraud alert” to ATPAC and Asheville Tea Party members “to alert our members of a suspect organization soliciting donations.”

Franzi noted, “Our interest was letting our membership know that it’s an attempt to appear to be something they’re not — a regional umbrella association” for the local Tea Party movement.

“That carries the implication that they’re over” the area Tea Parties.

“I’m thrilled for Haywood County to have a Tea Party (group), but that’s not what’s happening,” Franzi said. “We invited them to be in the WNC Coalition” and the group declined.

Peck added, “I’m all for starting Tea Parties, if you’re” starting a legitimate group. In this case, though, his opinion was that “it’s a front group in order to boost the campaign” of Miller.

In a follow-up interview Aug. 5, Peck said, “It’s not true that a state PAC could not support Jeff Miller. In fact, the GOP has been urging us to support Miller, which we have, thus far, not done.”

He added, “Our key focus right now is identifying, assessing and supporting Tea Party candidates for this year’s election. That’s why we held the ICaucus forum.”

As for the standing of ATPAC, Peck said, “We’re the most prominent Tea Party organization in the region and we would expect to be involved in any regionwide coalition-building effort.”